KVR Audio

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:50 pm

I'd second the Papen synths. The sheer number of quality presets in these is astounding.

Can't quite see the Zebra factory bank as being a "disappointment", though. Quite the contrary. It's full of great Howard Scarr presets, most of which are really valuable lessons in efficient sound design and playability. They're very much geared towards real players, who like to exploit modwheel, AT, and what have you to the fullest.

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:52 pm

chk071 wrote:I would rather say the factory, or 3rd party sounds are geared towards a certain audience. I don't think many devs develop their synths with EDM music in mind.

Hive and Dune2 comes to mind. Electra 2 maybe. Spire.

But in general I guess you're right.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:54 pm

2ZrgE wrote:
chk071 wrote:I would rather say the factory, or 3rd party sounds are geared towards a certain audience. I don't think many devs develop their synths with EDM music in mind.
Hive and Dune2 comes to mind. Electra 2 maybe. Spire.

Tbh i don't think any of these synths have been developed with EDM in mind. I remember that Spire was rather geared to general music when it came out. It progressed to the kind of EDM thing it is now. And Hive was developed as a low CPU footprint unison synth, Dune 2 has a similar approach i think. Don't think any of these developers was thinking "Yo, let's do some bangers with this shit!" when coding them.

fluffy_little_something · Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:57 pm

Hive's GUI might already indicate who it is geared at...

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:58 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote:Hive's GUI might already indicate who it is geared at...

Futuristic tech aliens from outer space?

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:58 pm

ariston wrote:I'd second the Papen synths. The sheer number of quality presets in these is astounding.

Can't quite see the Zebra factory bank as being a "disappointment", though. Quite the contrary. It's full of great Howard Scarr presets, most of which are really valuable lessons in efficient sound design and playability. They're very much geared towards real players, who like to exploit modwheel, AT, and what have you to the fullest.

Rob Papen ist one of the best sound designers, too bad he does not really work (that much?) for other synths any more. But that's understandable.

And HS's work is mostly not-EDM stuff (which is a good thing of course). Even his Hive work does not really sound 'EDM' to me (which isn't a bad thing).

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:01 pm

chk071 wrote:
2ZrgE wrote:
chk071 wrote:I would rather say the factory, or 3rd party sounds are geared towards a certain audience. I don't think many devs develop their synths with EDM music in mind.
Hive and Dune2 comes to mind. Electra 2 maybe. Spire.
Tbh i don't think any of these synths have been developed with EDM in mind. I remember that Spire was rather geared to general music when it came out. It progressed to the kind of EDM thing it is now. And Hive was developed as a low CPU footprint unison synth, Dune 2 has a similar approach i think. Don't think any of these developers was thinking "Yo, let's do some bangers with this shit!" when coding them.

You're, one should distinguish the planning/developing from the marketing.

Marketing-wise at least Hive was clearly offered to the EDM guys. Dune2's USP was/is it's mighty unison/supersaw.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:02 pm

True, regarding the marketing, many if not all synths are geared towards EDM. Seems to sell best.

Cinebient · Post by **Cinebient** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:18 pm

Zebra (HZ), Hive, Bazille, Dune 2, Omnisphere 2 but at the moment i like Alchemy 2 and Equator the most for my personal usage when searching for inspiration!
My all time favourite patch-bank ever was and is still "Steamworx" for Alchemy by Martin Walker.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:25 pm

2ZrgE wrote: Marketing-wise at least Hive was clearly offered to the EDM guys. Dune2's USP was/is it's mighty unison/supersaw.

Neither of them being actually good at EDM sounds

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:28 pm

Dune 2 has lots of amazing presets. There are not very inspirational, but do the job in cooikie-cutter tracks.

Yorrrrrr · Post by **Yorrrrrr** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:50 pm

DUNE 2 comes with really great presets BUT I don't know if they're usable or ready for EDM, or just a showcase for its capabilities.

waltercruz · Post by **waltercruz** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:08 pm

Synthmaster has a lot of presets (maybe a bit too focused on EDM, but a lot of useful presets).

I find the presets on Zebra focused on the clean side of the presets. I KNOW that Zebra can goes dirty, can sound vintage, but the presets on the default install doesn't show this, IMHO.

Stopani · Post by **Stopani** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:15 pm

Spire and DIva have a nice selection of patches from day 1.

Dewdman42 · Post by **Dewdman42** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:19 pm

Everything mentioned so far is good stuff. I'm partial to Omnisphere.

Which synths have the best presets?